Crazy VBAC success! (Long)

yankeebear · November 2011

First I want to say that this would not have been possible without the amazing team of Intown Midwifery and Dr. Bootstaylor here in Atlanta. I switched to this practice at 35 weeks because my old practice kept trying to push me into a RCS.

So I went in for an induction on 10/31 at 42 weeks 1 day. Yes, that's right - they let me go past 42 weeks and they were willing to induce so right there I had my best chance. It started with a foley catheter and a small dose of pitocin. At first things weren't too bad and after a few hours the foley came out and I was about 4 cm and I was so happy. After that they kept increasing the pitocin and the contractions kept getting stronger. I hope none of you ever have to labor on pitocin. It was way more incredibly painful that I had bargained for. I think I would've been OK except my labor went very slowly. All day and into the night I labored with the help of my wonderful DH and doula. Finally the contractions were so close together and so strong that I was literally passing out between them and needed both of them to hold me up.

They decided at some point to stop the pitocin so we all could rest for a while. The contractions continued but were much more mild and I could sleep between them. The next morning we continued to walk and try positions to keep labor going but the contractions kept spacing out. The only option was to go back on the pit or to call the doc for surgery. I was terrified of the pain of the pitocin again but DH and my doula kept encouraging me and I didn't want to let them down so I agreed to try for a few more hours. It was brutally painful the entire time. Late in the evening on the second day the midwife checked me and I was at 9 cm. I think DH actually cried then. The midwife also said that the doctor had recommended I get an epidural at this time as I had been laboring for 35 hours. I agreed. I know it seems crazy to labor for so long and endure so much pain and then get the epi, but looking back I knew I would never have the strength to push if I hadn't gotten it. So after the epi we all slept for just a little while.

Then Margaret Strickhouser the head midwife came in and started moving me around and things began to happen. She came back in and we began to push. I pushed for about an hour and a half, but honestly that part went by so quickly. When she told me to reach down and feel the baby's head I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. And then she did an episiotomy, which is something that they rarely do, but I was all for it at the time. Everyone said later that they couldn't believe how big the head was. Finally at 1:12 AM on Wednesday 11/2 Jillian Colleen was born. Everyone was very surprised to see a 9 lb. 8 oz. baby come out of me. (I'm 5'3 and about 130 lbs pre-pregnancy.)

So, this was not at all the intervention-free water birth that I had hoped for. I had pitocin and IV fluids. I had an epidural. And I wound up with a 3rd degree tear and incredibly painful hemroids. Recovery has been very slow. But I'm still in shock that with everything going against me I actually had my VBAC. And when they put my baby naked on my chest and she was looking straight into my eyes that is a moment I will never forget.

Good luck to all of you out there. No matter what anyone tells you, you can do this if you really want to and have the support you need.

cchill01 · November 2011

Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing. It sounds a lot like my first labor...except that yours didn't end in the OR! I know how incredibly painful those pit contractions are. Great job working through them.